Impromptu Tasting

Highlands Bar and Grill uncorks some lovely new wines.

By Jan Walsh

Photography by Beau Gustafson

Ihave my favorite seat at the bar of Highlands Bar and Grill. If I shared it here, I might never find it open again. But the bartenders know. And they know that I arrive early in order to snag it. Today, as I slip into my seat at the bar—which opens before the restaurant—there is a staff wine tasting of Grassroots wines beginning in the dining room. Highlands’s beverage director, Matt Gilpin, and the bar staff invite me to come over and taste with them.

After being introduced to the restaurant staff, I settle in among them. And Grassroots’s Jon Thomas brings forth wines from his bag and proceeds to tell the story of each wine and its heritage. Three wine stories unfold as we sip: Muscadet Delhommeau Cuvée Harmonie 2014, Grüner Veltliner Nigl Freiheit 2013, and Evening Land “Seven Springs Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Eola-Amity Hills 2013, each telling its own unique story.

Together, we discover, much like the character Uncle Henry Skinner taught young Max in A Good Year, “This sublime nectar is quite simply incapable of lying. Picked too early, picked too late, it matters not. The wine will always whisper into your mouth with complete, unabashed honesty every time you take a sip.” Our first wine story is from the Loire. Melon de Bourgogne grape (aka Muscadet) was originally brought to this French region from Burgundy, where it thrived and became a favorite pairing for the region’s salty oysters and seafood. Today, Michel and Nathalie Delhommeau’s farm of 28 hectares is planted primarily on gabbro rock, which was formed from molten lava. From a single parcel of these old

Posted on Sunday, May 1st, 2016.
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